Mini Cookies & Cream Cupcakes

It is a scientifically proven fact that little things are cute and we, as humans, cannot help but be drawn to said little/cute things. This science totally applies to cupcakes, too.

Speaking of cupcakes… I cannot believe that after almost an entire year of blogging, I have zero cupcake recipes in my collection. ZERO! My friends can’t believe it either. I think that after owning my own business (these are probably my favorite cupcakes I ever did), I baked so many cupcakes that they kind of seemed run-of-the-mill to me. But it’s time I strapped my cupcake boots back on and started bringing you some of my favorite little personal cakes!

I have several base recipes (chocolate, vanilla, yellow, white, strawberry) that I used when I made cakes and cupcakes all the time, and I loved adapting them to have different mix-ins, fillings, and frosting combos (this is where you start wondering where all of my recipes are– I KNOW. I just needed to branch out after making nothing but cakes and cupcakes for 3 years!!). This one was one of my favorite, and I often used it to make cake pops with additional chunks of crushed Oreos on the outside, which were always a huge hit. Lucky for you, I’ve included in the recipe how to turn these mini cuppies into standard size cupcakes as well as a cake!

The recipe is pretty standard. No weird ingredients. You’ll be working with melted butter, so let’s make sure your egg is at room temperature. If you don’t have time to let it come to room temp on its own, stick it in a bowl of warm water for 5-1o minutes and it should be good to go! You’ll also be using some yogurt: Greek, plain, vanilla, even sour cream. Any of those would work fine.

Because I made mini cupcakes, I used mini Oreos. One little Oreo fit perfectly at the bottom of each cupcake liner. Verdict? The best part of the cupcake, if you ask me. If you’re making standard size cupcakes, you’ll probably want to use regular sized Oreos, because they fit the bottom of a cupcake liner perfectly as well. Funny how that happened, eh? If you’re making a cake, you can use either size of Oreos. I suggest using the standard size and lining the bottom of your cake pan (!!!). <–I may just have to do this soon!

I made these cupcakes for a work party, and they got rave reviews. I chose to frost them with my standard vanilla buttercream (also what I love to frost this chocolate layer cake with) and chose NOT to put crushed Oreos into the frosting. If you decide you’d like more Oreo chunks, be my guest and throw some in your buttercream (and invite me over for a taste test??). I would suggest starting with 1/2 cup and add more as you see fit. Personally, I don’t think you can ever have too many Oreos, but that’s just me.

One thing about this recipe– don’t be afraid to fill the liners to the top. After you fill the liners, you’ll tap the cupcake pan on the counter a few times so the batter can settle around the mini Oreo. This should help the level go down a bit. I found that the regular amount of batter that I usually put in my mini cupcakes made some smallish cuppies. There is a lot of leavener in these, so they puff up quite a bit and have nice domed tops. Fill the liners, but don’t go too crazy!

Once your cupcakes are completely cool, get to decorating. Add some sprinkles or crushed Oreos on top or stick another Oreo in the tip of the swirl. Go crazy. There is plenty of room for Oreo bits in these mini cupcakes, and I think you should take advantage of all of them.

These cupcakes are buttery, packed with vanilla notes, and each piece of crushed Oreo brings that iconic chocolate and cream flavor to every bite. The velvety smooth vanilla buttercream that sits on top makes these cupcakes a true cookies & cream dessert.

Plus, remember the cute factor? Yeah, always important in desserts. Taste + cuteness. These cuppies have it all!

Mini vanilla cupcakes filled with crushed Oreos, and topped with creamy vanilla buttercream. Plus, a mini Oreo at the bottom of each one! Instructions for standard cupcakes and layer cake included as well.

¼ cup yogurt (plain, vanilla, Greek, or regular, any fat content; you may also use sour cream)

¾ cup milk (any)

1 and ½ teaspoons vanilla extract

additional crushed or whole mini Oreos for decoration (optional)

FROSTING

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

1 pound (approximately 4 cups) powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

⅓ cup milk or cream

salt (to taste)

½ cup crushed mini Oreos (optional)

Instructions

CUPCAKES

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line a mini-cupcake pan with mini-cupcake liners, and place a mini Oreo in the bottom of each liner. Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In a large microwave safe bowl, melt the butter in the microwave and allow to cool a bit. Whisk in the sugar, egg, yogurt, milk, and vanilla extract until combined. Slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir with a spatula until no lumps remain. Gently stir in crushed Oreos.

Fill the cupcake liners almost to the top with batter. Tap the pan on the counter a few times so the batter can settle around the mini Oreo. Bake for 10-11 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool completely before frosting.

FROSTING

In a large bowl with a handheld mixer, or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy, about 2 minutes.

With the mixer on low, add in the powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk or cream. Increase mixer speed to medium and beat until completely smooth, about 3 minutes. If frosting is too stiff, add more milk. If it is too thin, add more powdered sugar. Add salt to taste. If you would like to add crushed Oreos to the frosting, start with ½ cup and add more if necessary. Fold the crushed Oreos in with a spatula.

Frost the cupcakes using a piping bag or a large zip top bag with the corner snipped off. Top with crushed Oreos, stick a whole mini Oreo in the top of the swirl, or leave them plain. Cupcakes will stay fresh covered at room temperature up to 3 days.

Notes

*I suggest buying the "FAMILY SIZE" box of mini Oreos, especially if you plan to add some to the frosting or use for garnish.

This recipe makes about 14 standard size cupcakes (baking time about 17-19 minutes), a 2 layer 6" cake (baking time about 22-24 minutes), or a 1 layer 8" cake (baking time about 26-30 minutes).

Mini cupcakes are in the same league as puppies, kittens, and fluffy baby ducks! I can’t help but awwww and oooohhhhh over them!
These cupcakes look divine, and I was so happy last year when my Mum found me some gluten free ‘Oreos’ so that I could get that cookies and cream action back into my life. I expect these will be gracing the table at my little sister’s birthday party next month because she is a cookies and cream fan extraordinaire and nothing would please me more than making her a gorgeous Fresh April Flours’ Cookies and Cream Cupcake tower for her birthday!
Thanks for sharing Lynn!

GF Oroes, eh?! Sounds like something that would be pretty dangerous for me if I was GF and found a good substitute, hahaha. We absolutely cannot buy Oreos. They are way too tempting, even for extreme healthy eaters like us. It was super hard having the mini ones around because I kept thinking “it’s like, 1/4 of a regular Oreo!” BAD NEWS. It sounds like Jess needs these for her birthday, for sure… 🙂

I just made these last night and they were a hit! They domed beautifully (I filled the cups up almost all the way), and everyone loved the crunchy surprise at the bottom. I made regular-sized cupcakes and did find the scaling to be slightly off — this made about 14 cupcakes, required substantially more baking time (about 25-28 minutes), and yielded a ton of extra frosting. All in all, would definitely make again.

Thanks for reporting back, Amy! I use this (essentially identical) recipe for my vanilla bean cupcakes, and the time and yield works out just fine, but that can totally be based on a difference in ovens and the way we filled our liners. Either way, I’m glad that you and the tastebuds you shared them with all enjoyed them!

Hi again! In addition to making your wonderful cake pops, I also made these AMAZING mini cupcakes! They were so good!! I love the mini’s!!!! So please with how they turned out! Can’t wait to find more treasures to make from your website!! <3

These were delicious! I made them for a big party and they were one of the first to go. I did put crushed Oreos in the frosting and then I just gave each mini cupcake a smear of frosting (rather than piping a more substantial amount) and skipped the decorative Oreo and crushed Oreos on top. They were perfect and one of my favorites of the night.

Hi Lynn! These cupcakes look delicious and I can’t wait to make them. I was wondering what pan you used for these? I see in the make this recipe it shows the Wilton pan, but when I looked it up, it seems to create shorter cupcakes. And it doesn’t look like the one you have in your photos. Thank you for your help!

Hi, Hima! The link you clicked is correct, just make sure you’re looking at the “mini” pan and not the “tops” pan. All of the reviews for all of the pan sizes will be in the same post, so you may have seen reviews of the “tops” pans, which, yes, show very short/small baked goods. The mini is the one I use regularly.